Week in Smart Metering

This week we consider the paradox between consumers in UK and Europe happily bemoaning the poor service they are receiving from their energy suppliers, and the lack of motivation to do anything about it.

The issue is a complex one that involves socio-economics (sadly, one parent families and pensioners are least likely to switch suppliers and save much-needed cash) and psychology. Experts suggest that customers prefer the familiarity of a bad relationship over the unknown quantity of a new one offering better benefits. Sound familiar?

But the inertia is dulling the impact that healthy competition between suppliers has on keeping retail prices down. And diluting the customer's feeling of control over their energy - whether choice of supplier or consumption - that is essential to the successful rollout of smart meters in many countries.

'Make customers care' should be the catchphrase of every energy supplier, whether large or small.

More from Metering & Smart Energy International

US semiconductor provider Semtech has signed a contract with Korean gas utility SK E&S and telecoms firm SK Telecom for the implementation of an AMI pilot project. Through the collaboration automated gas meters and detectors will be deployed in the South Korean (SK) provinces of Busan, Seoul and Gangwon to test a new AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) system

In the UK Smart Metering Systems (SMS) this week announced it has won five deals with energy providers to supply smart meters to residential and small business consumers. SMS will provide smart gas and electricity meters to 386,000 metering points collectively owned by RHE, Green Energy, Flow Energy, Spark Energy and Our Power in Britain, according to news source Business Green.

In Europe, Norwegian utilities consortium Smarthub last week announced a deal with energy software company Greenbird to improve its meter data management system. The deal includes Greenbird supplying a solution to enhance the consortium's data centralization system.Greenbird will provide its Metercloud for integration of smart meter data with Norway's national meter data hub Elhub, the company told Metering & Smart Energy International.

This week, UK utility metering company Cyan has secured a contract with Indian multinational Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for an AMI rollout in India.Under the contract, Cambridge-based Cyan will supply a complete AMI solution including 5,000 electrical meters for installation in power utility Tata Power's grid in Mumbai